BULGARIA DENIES ENTRY TO REV. MOON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 001881

SIPDIS

DRL/IRF for Michael Mates, EUR/NCE for Scott Brandon

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SCUL KIRF BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA DENIES ENTRY TO REV. MOON

REF: SOFIA 1847


1. SUMMARY: Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon was
denied permission to enter Bulgaria on October 26 after the
MOI deemed his presence "undesirable," citing inability to
provide security following the shooting of high-profile
banker Emil Kyulev.


2. (SBU) Moon had planned to arrive on October 27 for a two-
day visit as part of an ongoing 100-city world tour.
According to Bulgarian followers, his stay in Sofia was to
include a mass wedding and conference at the Sheraton Hotel.
In the week preceding his planned arrival, press stories on
Moon triggered protests from nationalist groups and
religious leaders opposed to his visit. After members of
the right-wing "VMRO" political party and the nationalist
extremist group "Ataka" announced plans to demonstrate
against Moon's visit, Moon's followers approached the MOI to
discuss security for their event.


3. (SBU) According to Robert Williamson, a UK-based
representative of the Moon-affiliated Inter-Religious
Federation for World Peace and member of Moon's advance
team, these concerns were relayed to the MOI in a letter on
October 26. On the same day, the gangland-style shooting of
well-known banker Emil Kyulev sent much of the government
into high alert (Reftel).


4. (SBU) Late on the afternoon of the 26th, Williamson
reported receiving a visit from representatives of the
Bulgarian National Security Service. They informed him that
due to the crackdown following Kyulev's murder, the MOI
would not be able to provide security for Moon's planned
event, and that his visit was not advisable in the current
situation. When asked for clarification by Moon
representatives, the NSS officers replied that if Moon
attempted to enter Bulgaria, he would be refused entry.
According to Williamson, they indicated that the MOI's
decision was not permanent, and that it could be
reconsidered at a later date. In a press release issued the
same day, the MOI stated "The Ministry of Interior finds the
presence of Sun Myung Moon in Bulgaria undesirable."


5. (SBU) Subsequent Embassy inquiries to the MOI revealed
that Moon was "banned" from Bulgaria under Article 10,
Paragraph 1 of the Law on Foreigners, which forbids entry to
foreigners who have "by [their] actions endangered the
security or the interests of the Bulgarian state" or who are
believed to be "acting against the country's security."


6. (SBU) MOI officials also justified their action by noting
that the Unification Church is not legally registered in
Bulgaria, and that Moon had planned on entering the country
as a tourist while actually intending to conduct religious
services. Moon representatives countered that their
organization has made repeated attempts to register over the
past ten years, but has been prevented from doing so by red
tape and bureaucratic delays. According to Williamson, Moon
does not hold a Bulgarian visa, but had planned to enter
Bulgaria under a visa waiver program using his South Korean
passport. Bulgarian immigration law currently makes no
provision for religious worker visas.


7. (SBU) Moon has faced similar travel bans in many other
countries. He is currently banned from entering the
Schengen zone due to a German-imposed "immigration
exclusion" alleging that he is a cult leader dangerous to
the country's youth. Japan has refused him entry based on
his 1981 conviction for tax fraud in the U.S., while the
U.K. agreed to lift a longstanding entry ban for the
purposes of Moon's current world tour.


8. (SBU) Despite banning Moon's visit, GOB authorities did
allow his deputy, Song Yong-Chol, to enter the country, and
Moon's followers conducted their planned meetings on October
27 without any interference.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: We believe that the GOB's move to prevent
Moon's visit was a last-minute decision made out of concern
for security and political expediency rather than religious
intolerance. It is difficult to overstate how seriously
Kyulev's murder has shaken a Bulgarian establishment already
struggling to establish effective rule of law. Regardless
of its context, however, the travel ban against Moon
highlights serious religious freedom concerns as it relates
to the registration requirements of the 2002 Confessions Act
and the willingness of the GOB to stand up for the rights of
non-traditional religious groups. We will continue to
emphasize these concerns to our Bulgarian contacts and will
report substantive developments as appropriate.


BEYRLE